Cutlass
by Queen-Cocaine
Summary: Revised Version:: The canny Lord Potter and his Marauding cohorts are on the trail of James' missing sister. But to get to her first they must encounter notorious Pirate Queen Lily Evans and her crew of swashbuckling females...
1. Prologue

_**Welcome to the revised version of Cutlass. I'm aiming to make this one even bigger and better than it's predecessor. So avast ye scallywags and read on.**_

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**Cutlass.**

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_Prologue._

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Miss Alexia Potter sighed and flicked through the pages of _Proper Etiquette in Magical Society_. The book was infuriatingly dull. It didn't even have any pictures! Alexia thought the best part about being in a world of magic was that the pictures moved.

What was the point in having a book about magical society and not having moving pictures she asked herself? Nothing, of course was the answer. It only served to make her study more tedious than it already was.

The almost eleven-year old miss thought it incredibly unfair that her elder brother was given exciting books about changing desks into swine's and mixing potions that could blow out the brains of one's foe while she was stuck with books on manners.

If only she had been born male; she would be going to school for one thing, instead of being homeschooled on the Potter estate-turned-gaol until it was time for her elder brother, as befitting his status as Lord Potter following their father's untimely demise, to choose her a fitting spouse.

Alexia scowled at her study material in a way that would have her scolded in an instant should her mother see her. Pushing the book away from her in disgust she stood in such a hurry that one of her petticoats ripped.

Alexia looked down in horror; if her mother didn't rebuke her for being so careless, the mud dirtying her periwinkle skirt would do the trick. She would remark that proper ladies did not sit on the muddy ground to do their study, especially without a parasol to protect their delicate skin!

They would learn their books they same way they did everything; trapped inside like beautiful birds in a cage. Since Alexia was a 'proper lady' and thus could not possibly be entrusted with the knowledge of useful skills like those to repair tears and remove stains, she could not remove the evidence of her debauchery.

It simply was not fair! She stomped her foot and splattered mud on the soft silk of her slippers.

Oh dear, not even house elves magic could get muck out of silk. They were ruined.

A smile spread over her face and she giggled to herself.

Ruined!

Alexia kicked off her ruined slippers and tossed them away near her discarded book. The mud felt good squelching between her toes.

"**Alexandria Rose Potter!**" Alexia jolted as the sonorous-enhanced voice of Dorea Potter called over the grounds of Potter Manor. "**I hope that when I enter your room I will find you studying and not disobediently playing outside!**"

Alexia looked down at her muddy feet and dirty robes in shame. This would earn her a stinging hex on her backside at the very least and her freedom would be reduced to nothing. But then again, Alexia thought with a decidedly unladylike smirk on her lips, mother couldn't punish her if she couldn't find her.

She hitched up her skirts and set off running across the field towards the apple orchid on the far side where James and his friends enjoyed playing games of Quiddich on their summer breaks. If she could get to the shelter of the trees her escape was half-completed.

She put on a burst of speed...almost there...hurrah!

Her skirt caught and tore against one of the trees but Alexia giggled it off and kept going. There it was! The large white oak that guarded one of the few hidden pathways out of the Potter grounds.

This one was created by her clever brother and honorary brothers and used on many occasions to escape the clutches of the Potter parents and live free. Of course that was before James decided to buckle down and take his responsibilities seriously. Around the time of their father's death nearly two years before.

Alexia paused in front of the tree, breathing heavily; she wasn't very good at running, having so little opportunity to practise.

She quickly located the large knot on the tree's massive trunk and pressed her small hand against it like James had taught her five summers ago. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She informed the tree. It accepted her declaration and the knot sunk into the tree, the hollow it made getting larger and deeper until an arch way stood within the tree.

On the other side Alexia could see the ocean stretching before her like a never-ending road of blue, ready to take her to wherever her heart's content.

"**ALEXIA!!!**" Alexia frowned; her mother's voice sounded fearful now.

"Oh pooh to you mother." She muttered to herself, deciding that her mother fear was totally misplaced.

She quickly hopped through the archway less her mother's paranoia cause her to lock the wards and trap Alexia within Potter manor again. She skipped down the goat trail leading to the beach. The golden grains of sand stuck to the mud on her bare feet; it looked like she was now wearing slippers of gold.

Alexia admired how her sand slippers glittered in the sun before she washed them off in the surf. She stood with the cold sea wetting the bottoms of her robes and tilted her head towards the beautiful clear sky; almost the same blue as her eyes. Mother always said her eyes were the exact shade of Lapis Lazuli.

Her mother's fear played on her mind as she looked towards the horizon where black sails pierced the skyline.

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**..:: Cutlass ::..**

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Lord James Harold Potter would never in any regard consider himself a coward.

Quite to the contrary; whilst he was ten years old he climbed the tallest tree in the extensive Potter estate to rescue his younger sister Alexia's new kitten. The feline itself was black and true to the superstitious mutterings of the young master Potter's butler who stood underneath the tree with wand outstretched ready to catch the boy if he fell, that particular colouring of felines was indeed bad luck.

The butler, so engrossed in his reluctance in being involved, declined to see James miss his footing and fall. This, the neglectful man had to admit to Lady Potter in his explanation to how her precious child broke his arm and knocked himself unconscious for three days while the cat climbed down safely.

In James' young opinion, once he regained consciousness of course, the whole shenanigan was worth it just to see the smile back on his four year old sister's face.

A whole library of books could be filled with similar adventures of the rascally Potter child, all exampling his courage and rightfully defending his place in the golden house at Hogwarts School of Wizardry.

But it was at this fine institute of magical education, while finishing his final term, proud head boy status noted, that Master Potter, now taking the position of Lord Potter, learnt of his sister's absence in the house of Potter and later of her subsequent kidnapping onto the notorious French pirate ship; Le Bijou d'Océan.

Perhaps one of the most feared vessels to roam the English Channel, Le Bijou d'Océan was a ship shrouded in mystery. No history book could boast more than a few lines about the elusive craft.

There were only three known facts about her; her name, her piratical class, and perhaps the most curious; that each and every recorded time the ship was spotted a female, usually a young lass, was reported missing.

It was unknown just what kind of creature it was that ran a ship of such ill repute. Many a man had shuddered to think of the demonic spirits upon the vessel hungry for virginal blood. This belief spurned the brief practise of deflowering young maidens of any and all ages with the bulk focusing on those barely out of the nursery.

It soon became apparent, however that the demons of Le Bijou d'Océan weren't partial in their sacrifice pickings and the practise was quickly abandoned, leaving behind scores of marriage-ruined girls and disappointed future husbands.

Whenever the billowing black sails with the familiar rainbow Jolly Roger was viewed upon the horizon, wives, daughters and sisters were locked up and guarded with fierce abandon but to no avail; when the boat retreated there was one less girl.

Countless attempts by men to brave the legends and track the ship and return the stolen girls, should they still be living, proved fruitless.

That was, until the canny Lord Potter and his marauding cohorts took the matter to a more personal level. Lord Black and Lord Lupin shared the same outrage as their fellow Lord over the matter; Alexia Potter being perhaps the closest thing to a sister each had. Master Pettigrew, having three sisters of his own and an acute fear of women, did not feel the same loss but was undeniably angered even so.

Pooling their immense fortunes together, the Lords three gathered their wits about them and set off; studying each and every piece of literature available on the subject of Le Bijou d'Océan and interviewing each and any person who happened to ever spot the vessel.

But it was the Lord Black who had the unquestionably clever idea of cross-referencing the known routes taken by the demon-pirates. Upon doing so, Lord Lupin noted that several of the suspected courses crossed paths over a small area of water off the French-Spanish coast within the Mediterranean Sea.

Sightings revealed that the ship seemed bound for this area after each raid and was not seem for long periods afterwards. Lupin could only summarise that in this small undistinguishable area of ocean hosted a secret. An isle of an unplottable nature; he explained to his fellow Lords; the island of secrets is where they ought to be.

So now, six years after Alexia's abduction by the unholy fiends of Le Bijou D'Océan, James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin; now three gents of twenty-three years with reputed rakishness and individual good looks, set off for the area-of-sea-that-wasn't in hopes of finding and retrieving their long lost sister.

The lupine Lord Lupin's insightful instincts were indeed correct and the three noble's found themselves landed on a small but beautiful island with white sandy beaches, a sprinkling of palm's and a large black vessel docked in a half-hidden rocky cavern.

Good will prevailed within the stowaways-to-be and they helped themselves to the meagre offering of magical fruit the trees presented them as they waited for the cover of darkness. Night fell and the three, now bloated with Abyssinian gooseberries, banana passion-fruit, African plums, pomegranates, pineapples and durian (In fact, Remus correctly deducted that the island must be magical for most if not all of the fruits grew in completely different climates than this) cast all manner of silencing and notice-me-not charms and snuck aboard the dormant ship.

The plan appeared to be working flawlessly until Lord Black had a much untimely itch in his nose. He twitched it one, twice...and sneezed. Before one could utter the word 'Quiddich', the three trespassers were privy to a flash of red before all went black.

They awoke a number of hours later, tied to the mast and thus the story begins...

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_**And thus begins the rewrite of Cutlass. The previous version was lacking, in grammar, bulk and plot. Hopefully this one will eclipse it in quality; it will be a better read as well. I'm reviewing the characters to make them more realistic and adding some plot ideas I couldn't fit in the previous one. So old fans; review and tell me your comparisons, new fans; review and tell me what you think. **_

_**Life's pretty good, and why wouldn't it be? I'm a pirate, after all.**_

_**Love Queen Cocaine**_

_**xoxo**_


	2. Emerald Eyes

_**Thank you for your reviews, I'm interested in your opinions and would gladly take any suggestions into consideration. **_

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**Cutlass.**

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Chapter One.

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Upon leaving the subconscious utopia that is sleep, Sirius Orion Black was afflicted with an unfortunate pounding in his skull.

He immediately made a vow to himself, as he had each and every time he'd been cursed with a hangover, to never _ever_ to drink again. He suppressed the little voice that quoted 'for a week at least' at him, and struggled to open his eyes.

Alas, his eyelids appeared to be glued together and he failed to even try to move his limbs. Evidently James was to blame. Lord Black wouldn't put it past his long-time friend and fellow marauder to indulge in a bout of pranking; especially when his intended target was ingested with the Devil's brew.

The aforementioned target decided he would wait until he regained his wits to retaliate. His head still felt like a woodpecker had taken a liking to it and he was vaguely aware of someone's cool breath washing over his face.

Sirius crinkled up his nose in annoyance. "Move back a bit old chap, you're breathing all over me."

"Well, well," a voice that was most definitely not Prongs, said in derision. "I guess this one ain't dead after all."

The Lord Black woke in alarm; his previously adhesive-slick eyes shooting open with no hindrance whatsoever. With the look of a frightened rabbit most likely posted on his face, Sirius took in the pair of very purple orbs hovering rather close to his own. The purple peepers blinked slowly and Sirius was struck by the sight of sooty black lashes brushing against soft pale skin.

The owner of the eyes pulled back a little and he was rewarded with the face of a girl his age, mayhap younger, with a face of familiar pointed features. Sirius frowned; perhaps the chit was a part of one of the old families. But the only family he could think of that was characterised with a mass of curled black hair were the Parkinson's; and they all looked like various breeds of dogs.

This maiden didn't look anything like a mutt. Sirius found her to be rather striking in fact, despite the faint pink scar of an X marring one cheek.

"Welcome to the land of the living, Padfoot." The voice of the man he previously accused of putting him in this predicament sounded to his left.

Sirius eyed the damsel with interest. "Are you quite sure, Prongs? I feel like I'm still in a dream." He shot the girl a grin doused in the most potent charm he could muster in his current situation.

She let out a most unladylike snort causing Sirius to jump in alarm. "Better keep a leash on that one, _Amis_." She purred in an accent that was somewhere between English and French. "He was the one who got you in this predicament in the first place, no?"

"Unfortunately so." The perpetually tired voice of the third Lord in his company answered.

"Moony?" Sirius asked slowly. "Care to enlighten me as to what is this predicament the maiden is speaking of?"

"Juste ciel! He has more beauty than smarts, I see. Moony, was it? Mayhap you could inform your companion of his current dilemma?" The girl spoke up again without invitation. Sirius found it increasingly vexing. Had she not heard that women should not speak without being spoken to?

However, all thoughts of the wench's lack of proper etiquette vanished with the next statement "We're tied up, Padfoot."

"What in Merlin's name are you on about?" Sirius barked out in indignation. "I'm not tied up!" He attempted to move his arms to no avail.

"My apologies, Mademoiselle," Remus nodded at her, or at least the brief glimpse of her he could catch out of the corner of his eye. His view mostly consisted of the wooden railing of the ship and an expanse of sapphire-blue sea. He could deduct from this that they had moved on from the island since he was last conscious. This did not bode well for them. "It tends to take a while for things to sink in."

"Don't apologise to her." James snapped from Remus' other side. "The wench is obviously the reason we're here, tied up. Just look at her. Or more specifically; the inappropriate attire she dons."

"Oh, you are too kind." The woman huffed and stalked a circle round them. It gave opportunity to the Lord's Lupin and Black to view what they previously had not.

Their captor was dressed in a billowing black skirt that glimpsed red and white breeches tucked into gleaming black boots through a highly scandalous split. A frothy white lace shirt fell most inappropriately off her shoulders with a decent showing of the tops of her breasts; the shirt had to be held up with a thin buckled strap of leather, lest it expose the entirety of her chest. Her waist was clinched tightly with a black corset and a violently purple sash secured with a large ornamental amethyst broach was stuffed with all manner of bladed weaponry.

It occurred to them that their captor had the distinct look of a pirate.

Not only that, she was a _female_ pirate. Why, such a thing had never been heard of! It would shock those in even the most liberal of circles.

The piratical maiden fingered one of the arsenal of blades tucked into her sash and turned to look at each of them as she circled them like a lioness stalking her prey. "My name, esteemed prisoners, is Lara Malfoy."

Sirius suddenly realised where her familiar features came from. Of course, the girl was a Malfoy. He gave a badly concealed shudder of disgust that did not go unnoticed. Before he could even blink a sharp knife was at his throat. "Does the aforementioned _prisoner_ have any objections to my given name?"

Sirius managed to give her a mocking sneer, even with her blade digging into his throat. "Of course not, _lady_, I was mere expressing ridicule at your choice of profession."

Beside him, he heard James give an almighty laugh while Remus just sighed quietly to himself.

"What misfortune it is that a man with such ease on the eyes turns out to have no more manners than a mere swine." Lara sneered before spinning round and delivering an hard kick from the heel of her boot directly onto the Lord Potter's nose.

"Aargh!" James yelled as blood spurted down onto his previously unspoiled white shirt.

The Lord Black relinquished all pretences of propriety and decorum; "You impertinent male-imitating harpy!"

"This is not going to end well at all." The Lord Lupin, ever the unheard voice of reason, muttered quietly to himself.

"Nothing but a common street slag, befouling the name of women everywhere!" Sirius carried on. "Thy louse-infested vindictive sea-rat!"

His rant had attracted attention and the deck was slowly being filled with curious piratical spectators, all of a feminine identity and most beginning to bristle as the exact nature of Lord Black's rage became apparent.

"Second-rate unmarriageable excuse for a _female_." He finished; cheeks red with exertion and chest heaving.

The resulting silence was pregnant with tension. Each of the twelve curious females surrounding the quartet had hands on their swords and eyes on their own, each wondering exactly what Mistress Malfoy; so famed for her temper, would do.

What she did do, was throw back her head...and laugh.

This response, clearly unexpected and unprecedented threw the lady spectators into a fit of uncertainty. Thus, they did what they always did when in doubt... They drew their cutlasses and pistols and pointed them at the source of the confusion; namely the Lords three.

In the midst of it all, Lara Malfoy expressed her mirth in a bout of full-bodied laughter. Finally she ceased and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Merci, Gentlemen! Merci beaucoup; that was the best laugh I have had in a while. You, sir, are very witty indeed." She smiled at Sirius. "Now, here is my idea of jest." She selected a double-edged knife from her belt and, with a flick of the wrist, sent it spinning into the mast; three inches from the rope and two inches from Sirius' ear. "If you can cut yourselves free, you are free to leave." She offered.

Sirius looked suspicious. "And what is the catch to this little bet?"

The purple-eyed pirate looked a little too innocent. "Whatever do you mean monsieur?"

Sirius snorted. "I never trust a pirate. Even a female one."

"How wise you are, sir." Lara nodded at him. "But you should try, nonetheless." She encouraged, knowing full well the ropes hindered his ability to reach the taunting instrument.

"Try what?" Remus asked. "I can't see what's happening."

"Da piwate drew a nyfe at Padf't." James spoke through his broken nasal appendage.

"She drew a what?" Remus sounded confused.

"A nyfe." James insisted.

"I beg your pardon?"

"A **knife**." The pirate in question shouted. "Will somebody _please _fix the gent's nose? I feel I cannot stand to hear him speak like that any longer."

"I'll do it!" A girl with short lavender tresses volunteered with noticeable enthusiasm.

Lara looked dubious. "My dear Tonks, are you absolutely certain you hold the correct...abilities for medical restoration?" She asked as the girl tripped on a coiled length of rope upon approaching them.

James paled. Sirius spoke for his fellow marauder. "Absolutely not. In no way will this girl come near or attempt medical restoration on James."

"I thought his name was Prongs?" Lara enquired to her deaf audience.

"I can heal broken noses in my sleep, Sirius!" Tonks complained.

"And you are not Padfoot?" Lara looked confused. "Then I suppose I am to assume that you are not named Moony either?" She asked the third marauder.

He smiled at her. "My name is Remus." He informed her.

Lara huffed in exasperation. "C'est ridicule!" she exclaimed.

"I- _Nymphadora_?" Sirius gaped at the lass in a most uncouth manner before he remembered himself and straightened his features.

"Wotcher." The girl grinned at him before her features twisted into an expression of rage. "And **DON'T **call me Nymphadora!!"

"Why ever not?" Sirius asked with a teasing glint in his eye. "It is your given name after all."

"Oh shut it." Tonks muttered and stabbed her wand in the direction of James' nose before either realised. "_Episkey_!" With a sickly squelch, James' nose twisted back to its previous form. He grimaced at the feeling.

"Are you mad?" Lara yelped.

"Pardon?" Tonks blinked at her in confusion. "Is something wrong, Mistress Amethyst?"

"You just exposed your..._abilities_ to a bunch of muggles!" Lara hissed in response.

"Erm,_excusez-moi_, Miss Malfoy." James interposed dryly. "We are in no way, _magically lacking_."

"Sirius is my favourite cousin." Tonks explained. "He's as magical as we are."

Lara raised an eyebrow. "Unfortunately I seem to be lacking in several vital pieces of information about our captives."

"Was there not enough proof when you relieved them of their wands?" Tonks asked.

Lara shook her head, making the collection of gold hoops in her ears clink together. "Nay, t'was not I who relieved them of their personal effects. SHAIERA!" She bellowed loudly, causing all in the immediate vicinity to wince.

There was a brief ruckus from somewhere beneath them before a trap door opened in the deck right in from of Remus and a young woman with long white-blonde hair plaited in the French style climbed out. She flicked a few stray strands out of eyes the shade of turquoise before her gaze landed on Remus.

"Oh _glory_," she breathed. "You're all awake. I thought for sure that with that knock you were given, you'd be out for hours more. How are you? Do your heads hurt?" She pressed a worried hand to Remus' brow.

"Mine does." Sirius called out hopefully.

"Lara," the girl turned and scolded her fellow pirate. "I told you to be more careful when you were securing them to the mast."

"Whoops." Lara said without sounding in the least bit contrite.

"Well, they're awake now." Shaiera stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed them all with a motherly air. "You can untie them." The three Lords perked up visibly at this.

"Shaiera," Lara looked annoyed. "They're prisoners."

"Well that no excuse to go around treating them like animals." Shaiera rebuked.

"If they insist on acting like animals..." Lara eyed Sirius.

"That's– Lara!" She caught sight of the smeared blood that was the remnants of James' broken nose. "What on earth did you do to him?!"

Lara ignored her and stalked off. "Keep your weapons up." She advised the pirates as she strode by.

"Oh dear, dear, dear," Shaiera knelt and examined James' face while he did the same to her. It was obvious by her breeches and man's shirt that she was a pirate like the rest but she held a nurturing intensity that surprised him. It poured out of her whole body, evident in the soft caress of her hands and in her pleasant lightly tanned and freckled face.

"I need assistance too," Sirius claimed. "She insulted me rather crudely and threw a knife at me."

Immediately her attention switched to him as well and she examined him carefully for any signs of abuse. Lord Black's pretentious smirk however, disappeared when she yanked the knife that was his closest change of escape, out of the mast.

"Please don't trouble yourself. You can leave it there; it stands as a symbol of my near death." He lied through his teeth. James snorted softly. The look on her face told him that she didn't believe him in the slightest.

"You claim a headache, Milord?" she asked.

Remus frowned. "How did you know our status? I don't recall mentioning it."

Shaiera performed various medical spells on Lord Black as she answered. "I don't need verbal confirmation of such things; it is written in your clothing, your speech and your mannerisms that you are of noble birth."

"Again I am left out of loop in information regarding you three." Lara appeared carrying a bowl of warm water and a rag which she proceeded to use to wash the blood off Lord Potter's face. "Pray tell me about yourselves."

"You appear to think highly of yourself, _pirate_, if you assume I will reveal anything about my person to you." James spat.

Lara upended the bowl of water on his head.

"Lara!" Shaiera cried out.

"You heard how the noble with the corpulent ego addressed me. It was fair play." The accused defended.

"Pirates have no sense of fair play." James retorted; red-tinted water dripping from his chin.

Lara appraised him. "I sense your ire is not randomly focused. Perchance you have had dealings with pirates before?"

"I deal with no pirate." The Potter Lord grew more heated. "They know nothing but how to pillaging, plundering and the abduction of innocent girls."

Lara exchanged a knowing look with the other pirates. "Keep on guard, lasses. The gent just made it personal."

"Where is she?" James yelled. "I know you have her!"

"If she is indeed where you say she is then it stands to reason that she will no longer be who you are looking for." Miss Malfoy said sagely.

"What in the name of Merlin's soggy balls does that mean?" Lord Black asked dumbly.

"Sirius!" Remus cried appalled. "You are in the presence of women."

"Neither Lord Black nor I consider these wenches to be certifiable females capable of caring about social courtesy." Lord Potter spoke with venom.

Remus sighed jadedly. "Your feelings towards these women are irrelevant in the matter, Prongs. We were taught to act a certain way towards those of a female origin and circumstances aside, it is expected we keep to those protocols." He admonished much to the surprise of the surrounding pirates and his fellow marauders.

"Thank you, Remus." Lara said cautiously.

"Please don't take it to heart;" Remus sounded resigned. "I am only doing as I have been taught in the hopes that you would take pity and release Alexia into our care once more."

"So," A new voice spoke up from somewhere above them. "I am to suppose that one of you is Lord Potter?"

James craned his head upwards to catch a glimpse of the mystery speaker. Unluckily for the Lord Potter, his position tied against made vertical viewing quite impossible. He could only catch a glimpse of a red flash against the sun. He settled for commenting loudly. "So like a pirate to lessen the equal ground by such underhand means."

Lara rolled her eyes in annoyance. "If untying you means you can regain your masculinity instead of bleating like babes lost in the woods..." She flicked her wands and the ropes securing them fell away.

Immediately the Lord's Black and Potter jumped to their feet lest the wench bind them again. They regretted it immediately as aching muscles protested indignantly.

Remus shook his head at them before stretching and being helped up by a blushing Tonks. He thanked her quietly before turning to take in the sights he had previously missed in his tied-up position. He realised something immediately. "Are all of your crew female?" He asked Tonks.

She grinned at him. "You lot are the first men on board in several decades or so I imagine."

"The myths say that it is unlucky for a woman to be onboard a ship do they not?" He mused to himself.

"That's just male-dominated propaganda." Shaiera moved to stand by them. "Something a lot of the women here sought to escape." She smiled at him sadly and he wondered what her story was.

Before he had time to ask, his attention was drawn to a ruckus between Lord Black and Mistress Malfoy. His rash friend had apparently overpowered one of the pirates and relieved her of her cutlass which he was currently pointing at the Malfoy maiden.

"Good show, Padfoot." His other comrade apparently wasn't much help, being too busy cheering Sirius on. Remus sighed in resignation and excused himself from his female companions.

Miss Lara's hand shot up to halt her advancing pirate troupe who didn't take kindly to one of their own being treated in such a manner. "Nay," she told them. "If mon seigneur here feels it's wise to cross blades with a pirate then who am I to disillusion him?" She moved her hand towards the arsenal of weapons at her waist.

"Lara." An amused voice called. Lara lowered her arm and looked up. James belatedly remembered the reason behind his release. His attention shifted to the yard arm above them, or to be more specific, the woman perched upon it.

One detail Lord Potter noticed immediately was that her clothing was of finer quality than the other's he'd seen of the crew. He began to garner a suspicion as to who exactly this person was. She was sitting with one leg dangling over the side of the wooden beam, leaning forward and watching the goings-on beneath her with interest.

The flash of red he'd seen before was from her hair; a wine-red mane half-hidden by a large tri-cornered hat with a gaudy green feather stuck in the side. Even with her distance above him, he could see the content cat-like smile on her lips. It heckled him to no end.

"And who, pray tell, are_ you_?" He demanded, breaking the silence.

The woman moved faster than he would have though her able to; swiftly across the beam without fear, she swung onto a piece of rope from the rigging, flipping in the air; she landed before James in a crouch. She looked up at him through the greenest eyes he'd ever seen and though the Potter would never admit it, he felt naked beneath her scrutinising stare.

Slowly she rose, never breaking his gaze. There was something in his face that satisfied her for her lips curled upwards once more and she offered her hand to the Lord. "Greetings, Lord Potter, I hope your stay here has been to your liking?"

James looked at her hand before returning his gaze returned back to her face without shaking it. "I repeat; who are you?" There was something about the woman that alarmed him, as if she contained a coiled spring within her.

She retracted her hand. "I, Lord Potter, am Lily Evans; Captain of Le Bijou d'Océan."

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_**This chapter pretty much quadrupled the original version in length. I believe that makes me worthy of some reviews, no? I think this chapter outweighs the other one; I changed Lara's character somewhat from just being comic relief to actually having more of a personality as well as emphasising the animosity of the marauders towards them. Tonks also makes an appearance because frankly, I forgot about her in the old **_**Cutlass**_**. There is also a little relationship foreshadowing between a few characters. Try to guess who and I'm interested to see who you'd prefer together. **_

_**There's never a second chance for a first impression...**_

_**Love Queen Cocaine**_

_**xoxo**_


	3. Lapis Lazuli Eyes

**_A big thanks to_** _**blueholly**__** who corrected my French; Le Bijou D'Océan is now Le Bijou de L'Océan. **_

**Disclaimer; the Four Steps to Achievement quotation was once said and originated by William A. Ward.**

Oh, and I don't own the HP universe; if I did then Sirius would still be alive and Harry would have never married Ginny. Being the Yaoi fan girl that I am, he would probably be in an R-17 relationship with Draco Malfoy.

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**Cutlass.**

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Chapter Three.

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To plan an adventure takes little wit; any crowd of ragtag hopefuls with half a brain between them can do so.

Yet to carry out that plan...well that takes a little more cunning.

Lord Charlus Harold Potter, in the times preceding his unfortunate demise, was fond of reciting quotation to his young son. Especially the ones that had helped him become the renowned and respected man that he was, and that he hoped would assist his young heir onto the same path. Leaving his infant daughter at the side of her mother, he would allow young Master Potter to accompany him on strolls around the extensive Potter estate.

"James, my son, my heir," Being as fond of tradition as he was, he would always begin in precisely the same way each and every time. "In life it has served me well to remember something, I can only hope that this knowledge will serve you as faithfully in your future endeavours, whatever they may be. Anyone can dream a dream, my boy. But few have the courage and the conviction to see it through." Here he would pause and look down at his favoured child; ever the splitting image of him. "There are four steps to achievement, James. Do you know what they are?"

Young Master Potter would shake his head; though he could recite them in his sleep, he held a belief that these treasured words would lose their magic, if uttered in a voice that was not the mild baritone of his father.

Charlus Potter held up four fingers. "Plan purposefully." He struck one finger down.

"Prepare prayerfully." He did so with another.

"Proceed positively." And another.

With only one finger left, he looked meaningfully at his son who dutifully and devotedly recited the last of the enumerations with his father. "Pursue persistently."

With that, the elder Potter ruffled his son's hair in a rare show of affection and turned to return to his manor house, leaving his words to soak into the head of his young impressionable heir.

Of all the passages his father engraved in his mind, that particular one stood out for the new Lord Potter. It was with purposeful planning, prayerful preparation, positive proceeding and persistent pursuing that James Potter lived his life. They assisted in his placement in his father's favoured house, won him a position and later the captainship, of the Gryffindor Quiddich team and allowed him to beat out Master Snape for the coveted Head Boy position.

It was only natural; with the four steps to achievement having served him well in life so far, that he would enlist their aid in the search for his beloved younger sister.

He planned his escapade with single-minded purpose. He allowed himself to feel hope with his mother's tearful adieu as he left home with the vow to return Alexia to her. He kept up the spirits of his companions when the ocean threw her worse at them. Now that he was so close to his goal, he had every intention of pursuing it with persistence. To do other was regarded as failure and something his father was not at all tolerant of.

Looking into the vivid green of Lily Evans; Captain of Le Bijou de L'Océan and the captor of his virtuous sister, Lord Potter decided then and there that the best way to attain his purpose was to befriend, endear himself to and deceive the new obstacle.

The suddenness of his realisation left little time to confer with his fellow marauders, thus it came as much of a surprise to them as it was to the pirates when he caught Captain Evan's receding hand, dropped into a graceful and learnt bow, and pressed a chaste kiss upon it.

"My dear Miss Evans," He looked up at her through hooded eyes. "You are indeed a diamond of the first water."

This response, clearly unexpected, threw his audience for six, though the taken aback Captain allowed herself but a mere moment of astonishment before clearing her face of any trace of the emotion.

A moment caught by the crafty eyes of Lord Potter. A pirate though she may be, Lily Evans was still woman underneath. James decided that moment of weakness just upped the odds in his favour.

She recovered quickly and threw him a pert grin. "Oh ho!" She cried. "Avast ye crew; darling Alexia did not inform us that her brother was such a rake!"

This declaration was met with many hoots and whistles from her crew – not unlike those heard in the pubs in the slums of London, Lord Lupin thought wryly.

"A charmer you may be, Lord Potter," she told him, slipping her hand from his grip. "But I'll not be having broken-hearted wenches fouling the deck of my ship. Keep it in thy pants, sir, and I'm sure we will get along fine."

Pink tickled the edge of the man's collar at her crude wording. With a nod, James stepped back into the fold of his company. His fellow sirs knew better to question in the midst of such a situation and resolved to harangue their comrade as soon as appropriately private setting was found. Perhaps a time such as that would be sooner than they thought.

"But to be sure my meaning is clear," Lily Evans continued, her eyes betraying her wicked intent. "I'll allow you time to reflect upon your discretions and resolve a new approach. Lara."

The raven-haired maiden stepped forth. "Oui, oh leader of the ton?"

"Please escort our guests to their new..._accommodation_."

Lord Black decided immediately that he did not enjoy the implications of that statement, nor the sin-filled twist of the Malfoy wench's lips that accompanied it.

"Razina," Lara called pleasantly. "Won't you lend a hand to Monsieur Black?" Immediately Lord Black found himself relieved of his stolen cutlass by a brute of a lass with dark braided hair, coffee coloured skin and the black onyx stone at her hip.

Sirius paled. "S-Steady on there."

He backed into James who was being similarly cornered by two armed women with dangerous glints in their jewel-like eyes. Remus was already restrained by two bored-looking women as Tonks animatedly recounted a tale of her daring heroics for him.

"Come!" Lara ordered and led the procession of pirates and prisoners into the depths of the ship.

Lily watched them go before beckoning Shaiera to her. "See that little Lexi is not aware of their presence here at this moment. That is a privilege I feel I must share in person with her. Have her fetched to my office if you please." Shaiera nodded her consent and disappeared down the same trap door she arrived through.

Miss Evans paused for a moment of reflection before her inactive crew, eagerly discussing the previous occurrence, caught her notice. "Get back to work you pack of lazy bitches!" She bellowed. "And may the Goddess have mercy on you if I catch even a single one of you landlubber's shirking duties for idle gossip..."

Her crew eagerly resumed their work in the wake of her words.

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**..:: Cutlass ::..**

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Mistress Malfoy took it upon herself to give a detailed recapitulation of the historical background of the ship as she lead them through more corridor's and staircases than the ship should be capable of carrying.

"The initial crew of Le Bijou de L'Océan," she lectured to Remus; the only one listening. "Was established perhaps two hundred years ago? I am not entirely certain of the date. Their captain; Marie Dumont –François obviously, was a noblewoman who, like many of our crew today, had tired of the French social circle and stowed away upon the ship of the wizard pirate; Monsieur Pellart. She was found out and he marooned her on the island which is now known as L'îlot caché de Bijoux, or–"

"The Hidden Isle of Jewels." Remus finished for her.

She flashed him a rare smile. "Correct, monsieur Remus."

Sirius scowled at the two. "You appear peculiarly at ease, Moony, for someone who was tied to a mast not ten minutes ago."

Lara scoffed. "Le cerveau il etait en option chez toi." She commented loudly, causing their piratical companions to laugh rather raucously and for the Lord Lupin to hide a smile.

Anger beset upon Lord Black at the mockery. "Speak in plain English, wench, or is it intolerable to your cowardly nature to scorn me to my face?"

Rather than quell in fear, as he would much prefer her to, Lara shook her head with a knowing smile. "Ah, Il est stupide**,** no?"

Perhaps Lord Black was not as proficient in the French language as his friend, but he was not ignorant to the meaning of that particular statement.

"Silence! Blood-traitor scum!"

The Black Lord looked as surprised as the rest of the company at the words that escaped his mouth. His declaration was enough to startle even James out of his musings and the lord looked at his friend in disbelief and barely concealed repulsion.

Sirius himself had an expression of horror plastered upon his features. "I...I didn't mean to...It just slipped out...James?" He begged as his friend turned away.

"Perhaps Mistress Malfoy is the one you should apologise to." James spat through clenched teeth.

But Mistress Malfoy did not look in the least bit accepting of anything Lord Black might offer her. "Turn around," She ordered her crew members. "Let these men see how bigots are treated on this ship." Without another word she led them in the opposite direction and down several flights of stairs.

Remus noted that the area they were previously in was in much better condition than the one they were in now. He mentally cursed his foolhardy companion as they traipsed through a dank stone corridor that, judging by the amount of dust in the air, hadn't been travelled in a while.

Lara paused; it was only with his enhanced sight that he even saw the faint outline of a trapdoor in the filth-covered floor. Lara flicked her wand and the door gave a protesting groan before rising up.

Inside was so dark that not even Remus could see, but the stench of decay, piss and faecal matter gave a strong indication of its contents. His deduction was proved correct when he and his two companions were deposited into a century's worth of former prisoners, and their excretion.

Remus yanked his hand away as it touched something soft and soggy and stumbled backwards into what he indentified in the shadow as the chained remains of an expired human. Somewhere to his left he heard James yelp as he stepped in a bucket full of suspect material. Above him the heavy stone trapdoor closed down, cutting off what little light it gave.

Now the only illumination came from a small square cut into the trapdoor. He could vaguely see Mistress Malfoy's profile illuminated against the small light source. "Welcome to your accommodation, gentlemen. Meals will be levitated to you twice daily, somewhere behind the skeleton's you will find a source of water. Adieu." With that she was gone.

"Wait! How long do you intend to imprison us here?" James called after her retreating footsteps. "Mistress Malfoy??" He spun around angrily. "I thank you, Black, for signing my death warrant in this hellhole!" He lunged forward and began to pummel a skeleton.

"I'm over here, Prongs." Sirius called glumly from his seat on an upside down bucket that formerly served as a lavatory.

James immediately transferred his ire to his friend, seizing the Black Lord by the collar and shaking him roughly. "What the hell did you say that to her for, huh? Now look where we are. I ought to end your miserable existence with my wand, you complete and utter prat!"

"You should indeed," lamented the despondent Black. "Mayhap ending my life prematurely will allow me to cease sprouting the ridiculous bigoted tosh my family is so famous for. I'm just like them after all..." He whispered.

Rather than being throttled, he found himself in an equally suffocating squeeze instead.

"Never say that, Sirius. _Ever_." James said fiercely. "They're evil filth, right down to their rotten cores. You're _nothing_ like them."

"He's right, Padfoot." Moony clasped a hand on the Black's shoulder. "Having been exposed to that sort of talk since your birth is bound to have an effect on you. We know you didn't mean it and you're forgiven, that's all that matters."

Sirius roughly pulled him into the embrace. "Thank you, both of you." He said. "There never was a man with more understanding friends."

"And handsome to boot." James preened.

Sirius pushed his shoulder. "Maybe to your mother. But it's a well-known fact that the maids prefers me instead; _I'm _the more visually appealing one in the group. Am I right, Moony?"

"God's gift to maidens everywhere." The Lupin Lord deadpanned.

"Come off it old chap!" James exclaimed. "You're about as pretty as a Graphorn."

Sirius mimicked a maiden's shocked gasp. "I'm hurt, milord. I'm just as attractive as any other maiden, like Miss Evans, for example." His tone turned sardonic.

"He's right, James." Remus interposed. "It would behoove you to tell us exactly what you think you will accomplish by flirting with the Captain. And don't take us for fools and blame her womanly charms." He warned as James opened his mouth.

"I wasn't going to say such a thing." James defended. "I just feel that it is in our best interests to act like gentlemen for now."

"What happened to storming the ship and retrieving Alexia by force?" Sirius asked. "I rather enjoyed that plan."

"Perhaps that might have worked in theory, but not so much in practise. We were easily overpowered by mere women!"

"There's no shame in it," Remus said adamantly. "They were skilled and talented fighters, not to mention they outnumbered us at the very least ten to one."

"Perhaps we should have brought Wormtail." Sirius pondered.

"I doubt that it would have made much of a difference." Remus told him."Peter's not the most...proficient of fighters."

"True." Lord Black admitted.

"I propose that we focus less on 'could have's and turn out attention to the problem at hand. Namely that we are stuck in this putrid cavity." Lord Potter announced.

"And you propose that an alliance will get us out of here..." Remus thought to himself.

James grinned cheerfully. "Think, had I not such skills in romantic banter," He ignored the noise of derision from Lord Black. "We may as well be confined here forever. I predict that as soon as Miss Lily hears of her stooge's doings, she'll be down here in a heartbeat to free us."

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**..:: Cutlass ::..**

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"They are currently residing in The Pit." Mistress Malfoy cheerfully greeted her captain as she entered the office.

The captain looked up briefly from the paper's she was examining on her writing table. "Oh yes? And what, pray tell, did the lout's do to deserve that?"

"Let's not speak of it," Lara waved her hand flippantly. "Even the thought of it ruins my joyous frame of mind. Lord Black is as much of a bigoted brute as the rest of his hell bound kin."

At that Lily set her quill down. "I hope you did not let your inclination towards him cloud your judgement?" She asked evenly.

Lara scowled. "I have no preferences for chauvinistic pigs such as Lord Black."

Lily leant forward on steeped fingers. "Oh?"

Lara flushed. "Perhaps I may have thought him pleasing to the eye at first but upon the revelation of his true persona my fancy has since waned. Truly!" She insisted as Lily continued to stare her down. She attempted to shift the discomfit to her companion. "My ship has sailed for Monsieur Black...but what about yours?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I can't think what you mean."

"Lord James Potter." Lara coaxed. "Now that is a man with a handsome phiz _and_ open views on the meaning of blood."

"He is a narcissistic toe-rag and I would like no better than to remove him and his corpulent ego, as you so quaintly put it, from my ship."

"But you are not going to?" Lara leant back onto the desk and tried to make sense of Lily's reversed writing.

"No," Lily brushed the raven curls off her parchment and pulled it closer to her. "Have you no idea how distressed Lapis Lazuli would be if she found out that we housed her beloved brother and didn't even invite her to see him? And she's bound to find out, by word of mouth at the very least." She scratched a sentence out roughly with her quill. "Sodding finances. Is there someone on board who is good with numbers?"

"I am surprised you don't know yourself. What kind of captain knows nothing about her crew?" Lara chuckled under Lily's chin.

The Captain swatted her away irritably. "I can't be bothered with such trivial matters. You're the first mate; it's your job to know these things."

There was a timid knock at the door.

Lara sat up off the desk and straightened her skirt. "Try Aishwarya." She advised over her shoulder and she opened the door and slipped out past the girl standing nervously outside.

"...Ruby...Finance..." Lily murmured to herself as she made a note of it. A shy clearing of the throat made her look up.

Alexia Potter, now a young woman of seventeen, stood hesitantly in the doorway. "Lil-_Captain_, I mean, Shaiera said you wanted to speak to me? I'm not entirely sure why, of course," Lily looked amused as she began to babble. "I don't _think_ I've done anything wrong. I finished all my allocated duties and–"

"You're not in trouble, Lexi."Lily interrupted. "Sit, please. And you may call me Lily; we're not in a professional setting."

"Capital idea!" Alexia giggled and sat herself down on one of the velvet-trimmed chairs.

"I assume you heard the commotion earlier?" Lily asked.

Alexia nodded, still uncertain as to how she was linked with the previous brouhaha that was the talk of the ship.

"Somehow we acquired three stowaways at L'îlot caché de Bijoux; males ones."

Alexia let out a gasp. "I don't understand. I thought the island was unplottable?"

Lily waved her hand flippantly. "The three haven't been questioned yet as to how they found us, but they have made their identities known to us."

Alexia found herself sitting on the very edge of the seat and almost toppled off in her eagerness to hear exactly who the astute adventurists, who managed to achieve a task no other had, were.

Lily cocked an eyebrow at her. "My dearest Lapis Lazuli...do the names Black, Lupin and Potter mean anything to you?"

This time the young pirate really did fall off her seat. She looked up dazed from her position sprawled on the ground.

Lily looked alarmed. "I say, Lexi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Alexia breathed out. She bolted up and on her feet. "I'm better than fine, Lily! I'm ecstatic! James is here, my James!"

Lily nodded slowly. "Very well. You may go ahead and release them from The Pit."

Alexia's face turned white as snow. "_Pardon_?"

* * *

_**And I am going to leave it there. I was going to leave with Lily going "do the names Black, Lupin and Potter mean anything to you?" but I decided to write an extra five and a half lines. Feel happy. I also use a lot of 18**__**th**__** century slang; ask me if you're unsure about anything. The translations to Lara's Frenchsults:**_

_**Le cerveau il etait en option chez toi – The brain was optional for you.  
**_

_**Ah, Il est stupide, no? – Ah, he is stupid, no?**_

_**That's all for now, I hope that the Lords three don't expire whilst waiting for me to update. Lara promised to feed them after all...**_

_**Drink up me hearties, Yo ho...**_

_**Love Queen Cocaine**_

_**xoxo**_


	4. Amethyst Eyes

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**Cutlass.**

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Chapter Four.

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Mademoiselle Malfoy removed the last of her outer-garments and slipped into the hot water, scented with her favoured freesia and vanilla bath salts. Having initially fallen in love with the fragrance when she'd come across it in the form of a perfume bottle upon the raid of a passing merchant ship, Mistress Malfoy since then always indulged herself in accumulating various beauty products with that same scent wherever she might come across them.

These particular salts had come as a gift from the captain herself who, having spent time on regular sea-bound vessels and being no stranger to bad odours approved of any and all hygienic rituals her pirate crew may pamper themselves with.

Lara sank back into the bubbles and rested her neck against the rim of the deep porcelain tub. Her mass of black curls had been pinned up on top of her head to keep them from getting wet. Her arms dripped water all over the marble floor but she had nary a care in the world at that very moment, soaking in the hot water.

Not a thought was spared for the puddles of water on the floor, nor for the incarceration of the three bigot Lords. Lara sighed and closed her eyes in pleasure, breathing in the soft curling wisps of vanilla-freesia steam.

There was not a thing in the world that could possibly ruin this pleasure-filled moment.

The door to her boudoir flew open with a bang. "Lara how _could_ you?!?"

The first mate's eyes sprung open as young Miss Potter stormed into her bathing room with wand extended and fire scorching from her wide blue eyes. Lara's hand twitched for her own wand as a habitual response but she quelled the urge and instead turned her attention to the intruder of her private time.

"Alexia Potter; you must have excellent reasoning to burst into my private rooms in such a manner. Let us hear it."

"_The Pit_, Lara?!" The youngest Potter cried. "Whatever did you mean by placing my brother in such a vile place?"

"My dear Lexi, the act was not without motive of course. Rest assured that the gentleman got no less than that they deserved." The violet-eyed pirate trailed a gilded vein snaking across the rim of the tub with her fingernail, apparently oblivious to her companion's spluttering.

"I...No less–?! What atrocious act did they commit that sentenced them to The Pit?" Alexia finally asked.

Lara shook her head. "Nay, I shan't reveal such a vile statement to a youngling like yourself." She sniffed. "They spat upon my pride of self and I demand their lives as penance. They are mine to do with as I wish."

"Oh!" Alexia stamped her foot hard. "You are being deliberately impertinent." She accused.

"Perhaps I am," Mistress Malfoy mused. "But then again, you did interrupt my bath." She flicked water at the intruder and laughed when the young Potter squeaked and evaded it by jumping backwards into a free-standing washbasin. It toppled to smash onto the ground. Lara sighed and repaired it with a wave of her wand. "Clumsy." She scolded gently.

"I–I apologise..." Miss Potter said before thinking better of it. "No, in retrospect I am not sorry at all. The destruction of your possessions is no less than what you deserve for your heinous act!"

Miss Lara shook her head. "You do have a flare for the dramatic Lexi." She gave the girl a heartily amused look.

"You simply must release them. It was ordered by the captain herself and if you do not comply then I will see to it that you are strung up by your ankles on the bow, from here to Tortuga! See if I don't!" Said Miss Lexi; sounding a lot more courageous than she felt uttering those words. She cowered as Mistress Malfoy gave her a formidable look.

"Watch who you're sassing Miss Lapis Lazuli; men have had their tongues cut off for speaking less guff than that to their superiors." Lara warned, fingering her wand.

Alexia bowed her head in shame. She knew she'd spoken out of turn and out of station and any punishment she was dealt would be duly received. "I cannot, _will not_ take back my words though I do make an apology for them. Please try to understand that this is my brother; the only one I have, and I cannot stand for him to be treated this way in a place I consider home. I implore you, _please_, to release him; if not as a prisoner, than at least into lodgings more fitting for a human."

Lara hummed to herself as she considered the words. One look at the despondent girl, however, had her mind made up. Perhaps she had more of a soft spot for the girl than she cared to admit. "Very well." She decided. Alexia visibly cheered at the verdict. "I accompany you to The Pit to release them...after my bath."

The Potter girl's face fell. "But every moment they spend in that place is like an eternity in Hell!" She protested.

"If the place is as ghastly as you claim then time should have no meaning in there." Lara reasoned and sunk back into the water. "Which allows me to indulge myself for a while longer."

A sniffle broke her concentration and she looked startled over at the girl's bowed head and shaking shoulders. Lara grimaced; she had no knowledge of crying girls and how to comfort them. So she reached a dripping hand out to grasp Alexia's hand. The girl looked up with wet hopeful eyes.

With a sigh Lara gestured for her to leave. "Wait for me outside while I dress." A smile returned to the young girl's face and she departed as Lara reluctantly left the calming warmth of the scented water and reached for a towel.

Alexia paced impatiently in the bedchamber until the door to Miss Lara's boudoir opened and the woman emerged in plain black robes, her pale cheeks flushed pink from her bath and her hair still in a bunch on top of her head. "Very well, let us hasten to free your dear brother and company so I may return to my bath." She ordered.

Alexia felt excitement settle into her very bones and she let out a glee-filled giggle and clapped her hands in merriment. The tips of Mistress Malfoy's lips turned up in a smile and she offered her arm to the excitable young girl beside her as they exited the rooms.

"Spectre!" She called. A wizened ghost of a house elf appeared beside her and bowed. Its papery thin skin was so pale it was almost transparent and exposed the interlacing network of vein underneath. Its watery grey eyes seemed too big for its face and leant a bug-eyed look to the creature. Large bat-like ears, tuffs of snowy hair puffing out from within them, fluttered with the excitement of being summoned.

"Yes Mistresses? Spectre is living only to serve your needs." The elf wheezed in a whispery voice.

"Prepare three rooms in the eastern hall. However take all necessary precautions to make sure our guests will be out of harm's way whilst in them." Lara told him.

The elf smiled faintly. "Is that being all Mistress Amethyst?"

"Oui."

"Thank you?" Alexia reminded nudging the first mate sharply with her elbow.

Lara rolled her eyes. "_Merci beaucoup, _Spectre." She drew out.

"Spectre lives to serve Mistresses of the ship." was all the elf had to say before he disappeared with a small 'pop'.

Elated, Miss Alexia turned to Lara. "The eastern hall? That is a large step up from their current accommodation."

"I have no wish for you to interrupt me when bathing again." Lara grumbled in response.

Miss Alexia smiled and said nothing more; perhaps her friend was experiencing guilt over her reaction after all.

They continued down the magically expanded levels of the ship until they reached a heavily guarded steel door. Both women drew their wands at their approach. "Mistress Amethyst?" The black-eyed one; Razina; enquired with suspicion.

"À brebis tondue Dieu mesurele vent." Lara said and they stepped aside at the passphrase and took station behind the two as they entered the decay-filled corridor that led the way to the imprisoned Lords three.

**(A/n: À brebis tondue Dieu mesurele vent – The Lord tempers the wind to the shorn lamb (a Biblical reference used here as a passphrase)) **

Miss Potter immediately held a handkerchief to her nose as the thick stench of the passageway hit her. "Merlin!" her voice said, muffled by the cloth. "What is that smell?"

Lara, as seemingly impervious to the odour as the guards, answered. "It is the stench of death, decay and all things leading to it."

"It is The Pit, Lapis Lazuli." The woman with cloudy-blue eyes; the colour of Chalcedony, informed the youngest Potter. She tied her smoky brown curls back under her blue bandana in an attempt to stop the smell from lingering in her hair.

Alexia's blue eyes were wide. "Oh... Oh! It's even more horrid than I imagined!"

"Imagined?" Mistress Chalcedony asked in some surprise. "You mean you hadn't actually been down here?"

"Not exactly," Miss Alexia admitted, her cheeks turning pink beneath the lace handkerchief. "My knowledge comes from the stories told about the place."

"You should know better than to listen to hear-say, Alexia." Lara lectured. "Every time the truth reaches another ear a little piece of it dies until all that is left is fiction."

Alexia nodded firmly as she absorbed the counsel given to her. Her thoughts drifted to the day she would have learnt all she could and gained the ability to scold and teach the new generation and gift others with pearls of her own wisdom like secret ingredients to an age-old recipe.

She missed her cue when the rest of her company halted and continued on until her foot caught the rim of the small window cut into the trapdoor and she let out a scream as the ground came soaring up to meet her. But it didn't connect as she thought it would; she was dangling by the back of her shirt with her nose three inches from the hard grime-covered floor.

With a grunt her saviour, the silent warrior Razina, yanked her back onto her feet. "Careful youngling." She warned lowly. "You need to pay better attention to your surroundings. I won't always be there to save you."

"Yes, Mistress Onyx." Alexia whispered, shame-faced.

"Buck up Lexi!" Chalcedony nudged her. "Tis not the end of the world to make a mistake."

"It is in battle." Lara argued. She reached out and patted Alexia firmly on the shoulder. "Learn from your mistakes, Cherie; don't make them again." She advised.

"_Hello? Is there someone out there?_"

Startled Alexia looked down at the small window at her feet. The voice appeared to come from somewhere in the foul-smelling darkness. It struck a chord somewhere deep within her. A memory she couldn't quite grasp of a voice that was painfully and glaringly familiar. One of the few voices she could claim to know better than her own. Then it came to her as sudden as if it had been there all along.

"Remus? Remus is that really you?" She hesitantly called into the depths. There was a long pause before another voice answered her. "_Alexia!_"

A smile broke across her face. "James." She whispered before turning to her companions, her smiling growing larger. "He's in there. My brother."

"Huzzah." Lara said with no apparent cheer. "Let us release them already so I can return to my bath."

"_Sound like a fine idea, milady. Mayhap I will join you._"

Mistress Malfoy took offence at that. "Quiet, Lord Black, or I will silencio you with such fervour that even your decedents will be mutes!"

"Calm yourself Lara," Chalcedony advised with scarcely hidden amusement.

"Keep yourself out of this, Daine!" Lara spun around in ire. Daine laughed in good-humour but otherwise stayed silent.

"Brother, stay where you are," Alexia fretted. "We are here to liberate you from this foul prison."

"_I fail to see where else we would go, Alexia_." Came Lord Potter's teasing voice.

"_Curses!_" Lord Black swore light-heartedly. "_You thwarted our plan to dig our way out of this chamber with the assortment of blunt cutlery you gifted us with the meal._"

"Extremely diverting Lord Black," Mistress Malfoy told him with contemptuous humour. "It is apparent that your period in incarceration has done nary a thing to dull your wit. Stand back Alexia." She warned before with a flick of her wand, the heavy trap door lifted with a protesting groan. Within the chamber, the Lords three cringed away from the sudden illumination that assaulted their dark-orientated sight.

"Daine, you'll take Potter. Razina; Black. As for myself, I shall take Lord Lupin." Lara instructed her escorts. With their nods of acknowledgement, all three raised their wands and levitated the filth-strewn men from the depths of The Pit.

Miss Potter immediately threw herself into the arms of her brother. She was immediately enclosed by the arms of her honorary brothers in addition until only the top of her messy black hair was visible.

Daine was staring at them. "Perhaps she's using a bubblehead charm?" She suggested. "Or she suddenly came down with a terrible cold?"

Five seconds into the embrace had Miss Alexia quickly retreating from their arms with her handkerchief pressed firmly to her nose.

"Tis possible that the sentiment of the reunion blocked her sense of smell for the moment." Lara commented, her lips twitching.

Lord Potter, his own mouth attempting to cease the inevitable smile, stepped towards his retreating sister. "Is something the matter, darling?" He reached up a hand and fixed his spectacles which had an unsightly brown smear smudging the one lens.

Alexia shook her head and backed into Lord Black who'd snuck behind her whilst she was otherwise occupied. With a wicked smirk adoring his features, he wrapped both soiled arms tight around the Potter girl as she shrieked in alarm. "Come now Prongs, I am certain Miss Alexia here was just being coy."

Miss Alexia struggled and screeched in a most unladylike manner as her brother approached with a predatory gleam in his hazel eyes. "Release me scoundrels! Right this instant! I demand–" She let out another playful squeal as her brother came closer, and kicked at him now that he was in range. He caught her leg easily and made to catch her other one before a sudden thought of realisation came to him and his grip on her breeches covered leg tightened substantially.

"Pray tell me little sister," He sneered. "Why you are adorned in men's clothing?"

Lord Lupin, having noted that little detail as soon as he'd clasped proper sights upon his honorary sister and having been waiting for his friends to make the same deduction, also became aware of the tensing within their pirate companion's as they sensed a threat in the Potter Lord's tone and demeanour. Remus felt it would serve their interests better for him to intervene before any actions taken by his rash friends occurred which would undoubtedly result in them being locked again in the place called The Pit.

This is why, just as Lord Black was opening his mouth to form his own damaging comments on the situation, his lupine friend cut in before he could speak a word. "I would make the assumption that, residing on a ship as she is, breeches are perhaps the more practical attire for Alexia to wear. This isn't the London social circuit, James." He reminded.

Lord Potter thought for a long moment before he gave a sharp nod and released his sister. "Of course, Moony. I forgot myself for a moment. I apologise Alexia," He pressed a favouring smile down on his younger sister. "for my impudence; especially after you have been subject to such traumatic experiences since I've seen you last. Forgive me?"

"Always and forever." Answered Alexia; though her confusion and curiosity as to what the 'traumatic experiences' her brother spoke of were, showed on her face.

"Never mind it Alexia," James whispered to her. "None of us will speak a word of this ever. I plan to return you home and you will be permitted to don all the silk dresses and jewels that you desire." He turned away before Alexia could get a word in and nodded at the three pirate escorts who were staring at the proceedings with curiosity and slight animosity. "She is in good health and I thank you for that."

"We always take care of our own, Lord Potter." Miss Lara replied smoothly.

James looked mystified at her answer but dismissed it as being irrelevant. "I and my associates are gratified by your reconsideration of our incarceration in that festering gaol. We will trouble you no further other than to ask to be released with Alexia at the nearest town or landmass with our wands intact."

At that the three pirates threw their head back in raucous laughter. "You are not being released, Lord Potter," An amused Lara informed him.

"We aren't?" Sirius repeated.

"Your caring sister had petitioned for a change in your captivity. You are to be moved to a set of interconnecting rooms in the eastern hall where you will be subject to relative freedom within the confines of these rooms, observed through various imprisonment and surveillance spells. You will be permitted to walk above deck twice daily and always in the company of a crew member." She explained. "You may be visited by Lexi at her own discretion."

Sirius frowned at the unfamiliar name. "Lexi?"

"It is a shortening of her name." The first mate clarified.

Lord Potter bristled. "Alexia is already a shortening of Alexandria. Shorten it anymore and it will cease to exist!" He exclaimed hotly.

Daine laughed at that. "We shall be calling you 'A' for sure!" She teased.

Alexia grinned at her. "On the condition that you allow me to call you 'D'" She bartered back. Daine slung an arm around Alexia's neck and began wrestling her to the ground.

The three Lord's looked scandalised. "Alexia, that is not ladylike a' tall." James began to lecture.

"Being a pirate makes you free of such suffocating constraints as being 'ladylike'." Miss Lara said, walking towards the exit. She wouldn't stay near the source of the smell any longer than was necessary. The exposure so far meant she would have to double the amount of bath salts she used.

"My sister is _not_ a pirate." Lord Potter called after her.

The look she threw him over her shoulder was scornful. "Whatever helps you to sleep at night, monsieur."

Lord Potter intended on arguing further with her but found himself, along with Sirius, forcefully moved along by the strongly built Razina while Daine took hold of Remus. Alexia skipped ahead until she took a position next to him, intent on making up for lost time with her brother by speaking until she was positively blue in the face.

Lara halted before a set of tall heavy oak doors. James had only a moment to examine the elaborate carvings engraved into them before their guide pressed a hand to them and clearly spoke. "Ouvrir." The doors opened with surprising smoothness considering their mass.

"This, monsieur's, is the rooms named 'à la belle étoile' roughly meaning out under the beautiful stars. I thought it fitting for Monsieur Black especially." She fluttered her lashes at Lord Black playfully.

She led the Lord's and Alexia inside the suite while Daine and Razina stationed themselves outside. The doors closed behind them with a muffled 'thud'. When he looked back, James saw the illustration on the door's he had noticed before was a depiction of the constellations, matching those in the ceiling which magically mimicked the night sky. James admired the velvety blue sky, scattered with glowing dots and almost missed his fellow marauder's gasps at the room itself.

It seemed a cross between a library and something resembling his mother's private sitting room. The walls were wine-coloured and held shelf after shelf filled with countless books. James knew that Remus would be dying to get his nose into them, even he was interested. Many looked valuable and the thought struck James that the pirate had probably obtained them from a passing ship they had unfairly plundered. The desire to read left him almost instantaneously.

A selection of furniture made of the same reddish oak as the doors loosely surrounded a fireplace already blazing with a hearty flame at the far end of the room. The carpets littering the floor were that of quality; most likely Persian made and liberated from a merchant ship. The room had three separate doorways other than the one leading out and James could faintly see a word carved into each though his sight prevented him from making out what the word said.

"The doors are named for each of us." Remus muttered to him and James realised his friend must have seen his efforts.

"I presume these rooms are more to your liking?" Miss Lara enquired. She watched their shocked and pleased expressions with delight. After all, compared to The Pit, even a stable would be a luxurious alternative. "Capital. After all, you are to be confined here for the unforeseeable future. You will find clean robes in each of your bedchambers. There is also a bathing area within each room stocked with the appropriate necessities."

"I dare say that was a hint, Prongs." Sirius nudged his friend jovially.

"Indeed it was, monsieur," Lara said, holding her nose in exaggeration. "You carry a stench worse than that of a swine."

"Nonsense," Sirius enthused. "Tis just my man's stink. Being in a ship of women has dulled your senses to the wonder of it."

Lara couldn't help but laugh. "You are an utterly absurd man, monsieur Black."

"It's part of his charm." James remarked. "The only part of his charm."

"Too right." Remus added, already examining the various book titles. "Good gracious!" He exclaimed. "The journal of Godric Gryffindor himself! Why, this has been lost for centuries!"

"Spectre!" Lara called shaking her head at Lord Lupin's enthusiasm. She herself found more pleasure in dueling than reading, though she knew the Captain always made time to indulge in a great deal of the books they aquired. The ghostly house elf appeared with a small 'pop'. "If you require assistance then you may summon Spectre." She said to the Lord's.

Sirius jumped at the creature's appearance. "Merlin, looks like the thing has half-crossed onto the other side already."

"Apologies," James told the elf. "Lord Black has had unfortunate childhood experiences with house elves."

The elf nodded. 'I is understanding Potty Lord." Sirius gave a loud bark-like laugh at that. With another 'pop' the elf disappeared.

"Now we must take our leave," Lara said. When Alexia began protesting she reminded her. "You must take a bath, Lapis Lazuli. Playing with your brother has infused you with their stench." She crinkled her nose. "And my own bath is calling. I must return before the warming charms wear off. And I expect to bathe undisturbed." She warned and bidding the Lord's a final farewell, escorted the young Potter out. The door shut behind them with a loud thud.

"Well," Sirius stated, looking around the room approvingly. "This is a vast improvement."

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_**Ack, my finger's hurt and I ate too much ice cream and chocolate with my friends and now I feel kind of sick. But I wrote another two pages and finished off the chapter anyway. Why? Because I love you all. And if you love me then you'll review. Lots. Even if it's just to say 'I love you too Queen Cocaine'**_

_**Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?**_

_**Love Queen Cocaine**_

_**xoxo**_


	5. Turquoise Eyes

_**

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This is in the memory of Daddy's Little Cannibal.  
Though she was essentially a Twilight author; and a damn good one, she will be remembered as being a vital part of the whole fanfiction community and will be missed by her friends, family and fans.  
She will live on forevermore in her writing.  
If you enjoy Twilight fanfiction then I urge you to read her work.  
.RIP.

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**Cutlass.**

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Chapter Five.

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It took Lord's Potter and Black perhaps three days of incessant _Reducto_'s to realise that the heavy oak doors that were barring them from the outside world had no intention of being obliterated.

It was a pity, Lord Lupin sighed whist looking at the scorched wood, that the same could not be said for the beautiful cosmological illustration that had previously graced the door. But he had only a moment's thought to spare for the loss of art before his thoughts were once more consumed by the vast expanse of knowledge that was somehow contained in a single room.

By four days his fellow marauder's joined him claiming that they would risk their minds disintegrating had they not done _something_.

Though their new rooms were a most definite improvement from the foul stench-ridden depths of The Pit, it soon became apparent that other than the vast selection of books and the daily visits from Alexia, occasional check-ups from Shaiera and surprisingly enough, Sirius' young cousin Tonks calling in from time to time, there was absolutely nothing to do to stem the boredom that began to seep into their minds.

Lord Black was not like his lupine friend; he found little pleasure in reading as a leisure pursuit. He would much rather be doing something bodily than sitting still for hours on end, only moving to flip a page. Even his closest friend, James, had been known to open a book on occasion, though this was usually for scholarly purpose.

Sirius liked to think it was a collaboration of his good looks and natural talent that got him through school with admittedly elevated marks. Certainly no teacher had ever witnessed him opening a book on his own accord. Thus it was determined, much to the chagrin of his fellow marauders, that the young Master Black; as he had been known then, was nothing short of brilliant.

Of course, it was only after their graduation and during the subsequent research on Alexia's whereabouts, that the now Lord Black confided to his friend that, being a part of The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black and thus discouraged from showing any and all signs of mediocrity, by age ten he'd already learn the entire seven years of the Hogwarts curriculum which had been taught by various relations using perhaps questionable methods.

James had merely shaken his head and laughingly told his friend that he was a devious excuse for a scholar and threatened to send a letter to Mistress McGonagall informing her of the deceit.

In his second breath he informed his friend that may be a fraud of a prodigy, but he was a brilliant marauder and in James' books, that was what really counted. It was in that moment and ones both succeeding and preceding it, that Sirius was absolutely and utterly beholden of the higher being that gave him a friend like James Potter.

Sirius left his bed chamber and looked around the empty common room in boredom. He supposed that Remus would be sleeping; it was almost all he'd done these last couple of days. A flash of pity for his friend passed over Lord Black's face before a dawning comprehension occurred. With swiftness he swept into the room with 'Potter' engraved on the door.

"Prongs!" He barked.

The aforementioned, who had been draped on the large four-poster bedstead calmly reading, jumped at his companion's entrance. "Thank you Black," He muttered tartly. "You lost me my place."

"We have more pressing matters to attend to than your newfound obsession with a diary." Sirius said impatiently.

"It is not a _diary_," James said the word with no small amount of scorn. "That implies that it is merely a book in which some dim-witted maiden has written about her true love. This is the journal of Godric Gryffindor. It has all sorts of interesting facts about all the founders. Including the real reason Slytherin left."

"I don't– does it now?" Lord Potter grinned as he saw his friend's interest peak. "Something sordid and scandalous I imagine." Lord Black said with an indecent glint in his eye. "I always thought that Ravenclaw wench would be a right tigress in the old sack."

"According to this, Ravenclaw would get really aroused if Gryffindor whispered factual evidence in her ear. But it was the Hufflepuff lass who was the real sexual deviant....oh yes." James nodded slowly as his spectacles became fogged up at the book's content.

Sirius eyed it. "Mind if I borrow that after you?" He asked bluntly.

A flush crept up Lord Potter's cheeks and he shut the journal with a snap. "You wanted to talk about something of urgency?" Lord Potter asked delicacy, removing his spectacles and cleaning them on his robes.

"Ah, yes," Sirius remembered. "There is an issue that is looming upon us. Something we overlooked upon our incarceration." He paused and looked meaningfully at his friend. "A certain _furry little problem_..." He hinted.

Lord Potter's face paled. "Oh yes, we didn't account for that." He fell silent in thought.

Lord Black paced back and forth agitatedly. "Well, what are we going to do about this predicament...James?" He paused noticing the look on the Potter Lord's face. It was reminiscent of the look James donned whenever the beginnings of what would later become a truly magnificent prank occurred to him.

"My dear Padfoot," the man addressed his companion as a look of scheming mischief came over him. "Whatever happened to viewing the glass half-full?"

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**..:: Cutlass ::..**

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Sirius watched as the book on Remus' chest rose and fell in time with the Lupin's breathing.

He grimaced at the sight of his friend's face; grey with exhaustion. He picked up the book; _Azkaban; The Sordid history of The Wizarding Prison_; and closed it, placing it on Remus' bedside table. He drew the covers over the exhausted Lord and blew out the half-melted candle Remus had been using to read by.

He had obviously surrendered to the call of slumber some time ago. "Goodnight, Moony." He whispered and pressed a kiss to the man's creased and damp forehead.

It hurt him that out of all the marauders, Remus was the one afflicted by this. He could easily admist that any one of them would have deserved it more than the soft-spoken Lord.

Out of all three of them, Remus was the first to take his late father's title. He appeared at school at the beginning of their second year as Lord Lupin and had been known as such ever since.

Once when Sirius was feeling particularly teasing he referred to Remus as 'Lord Moony'. No one could have missed the flash of pure anguish that flared up in the twelve year old boy's eyes. James later confided to the Black his suspicions about the circumstances of the late Lord Lupin's demise as Remus himself had certainly never informed them on any part of the matter other than the result.

Sirius never again teased his friend on that matter. Instead he proposed something that changed their lives. Something they only managed to make a reality in their fifth year and with which they never looked back.

"You are stronger than you give yourself credit for old chap," he confided softly. "Heaven knows if it were me I would have committed the sin of suicide myself." He turned to leave the room, pausing as a burst of unfamiliar laughter met his ears, though when he entered the main room there was no one to be seen. He ignored it as his own imaginings as returned to his own room, not wanting to intrude upon James again.

James...

It was strange, he mused as he lay upon his own bedstead and stared up at the inky black canopy; that he was supposedly the rash one in their group. Yet here was James with a proposition so outlandish that eve Sirius was not sure of the validity of it.

Desperation times called for desperate measures by desperate men.

Perhaps a week had passed on this god-forsaken ship and they had nothing to show for it, excluding a few visits from Alexia. Being imprisoned as they were meant they were no closer to retrieving Alexia and returning home as they were upon entering upon The Jewel of the Ocean.

A soft knock sounded at his door and Sirius sat up eagerly. There was only one person who visited who knocked with such femininity.

"Enter." He called, trying to still his voice of any anticipation. However the female that entered was not the one he expected. "Mistress Malfoy." Lord Black said flatly.

"Black." She nodded curtly. She was not dressed as he had last saw her, in a thin black robe that was more suited for sleepwear than traipsing through filth-strewn hallways with men. Instead she was clad in her usual piratical garb; substituting the skirt he had seen her wear upon their meeting with a pair of plain black breeches. Her usual arsenal of weapons was missing as well; she donned only a single cutlass. "You sound disappointed." She commented. "You were hoping for someone else?"

Pink tinged at the edge of his collar. "You know I only crave your company mademoiselle," he flashed a debonair smile.

She looked unconvinced. "I am sure."

"However elated I am with your presence," Sirius drawled. "I must ask, what is it you desire?"

She turned violet eyes filled with some sort of undistinguishable emotion on him. It made the Lord Black's breath catch in his throat. Then just as quickly she blinked and the fire disappeared, leaving him wondering if it had occurred at all. "I am looking for my captain."

"Why look for her here?" Sirius asked curiously. "I would imagine that she, as captain, would have better things to do than call upon her captives?"

Lara snorted. "Emerald is not the most conventional of captains as I am sure you will soon learn. The word was that she intended on engaging you all in conversation and as Lord Potter's room is empty and Lord Lupin is slumbering I assumed that the congregation was happening in your chamber."

"James is not in his rooms?" Sirius stood. "Where is he?" He demanded.

"He is safe I am sure." Lara soothed. "Lily will not harm him...it would upset Alexia and then I would never get any peace whilst bathing."

It took him a moment to realise she had made a joke and he forced the ends of his lips up in an obliging smile. She appeared to accept it though it looked more like a grimace. He had no knowledge of exactly why he felt the need to humour her; it just seemed a natural reaction.

Mistress Malfoy shifted uncomfortably in the resulting silence. "Evidently what I am looking for is not here. I will take my leave."

"Wait!" Sirius called.

She turned back to him curiously. "Oui?"

His mind went blank. Why had he called her back?

"Lord Black?" She asked after a moment.

He looked her in her alarmingly purple eyes and said the only thing he could think of. "I apologise."

Her brow crinkled. "_Pardon_?"

"What I called you before." Sirius offered, trying not to repeat the insult. "Before you rightfully threw me in The Pit. I apologise; it was entirely inappropriate, fallacious and hypocritical of me to call you such a thing. I spoke out of rage and should have restrained myself accordingly. I can only hope my words did not influence your opinion of my character. Those views were not my own." He did not look at her when he finished though he could hear her soft breathing as she thought over his words.

"You are forgiven." She said finally. Sirius looked up in astonishment. Miss Lara merely shrugged. "What can I say? I am terrible at keeping grudges."

Lord Black managed a genuine smile at that.

"And that is not to say that your words were not entirely fictional." She added. "I am what is considered a blood-traitor." At the amazement on Lord Black's face she laughed. "I do not share those views either."

"B-But you are a Malfoy are you not?" Sirius stammered.

Lara looked pleased at throwing him for six. "You are a Black are you not?" She mimicked him.

"Ah, touché." Sirius winked at her.

"So tell me, _monsieur_," Mistress Malfoy sauntered towards him slowly. "Are you opposed to having a drink with a blood-traitor such as myself?"

"Now that depends on the liqueur now doesn't it." Sirius responded, unaffected by the close proximity. Clearly the wench was trying to provoke a reaction within him and he was damned if he would give her the satisfaction.

She flashed white teeth at him in a mockery to a smile. "Le vin rouge; red wine. Bambou!" She called.

A small pink house elf, much smaller than Spectre, appeared with a small pop. "Oui?" She trilled.

"Une bouteille; Bourgogne, S'il vous plait." Lara rattled off quickly.

**(A/n: "A bottle; burgundy, please.") **

The house elf nodded and disappeared for a moment. She reappeared with a bottle full of dark red liquid and two clear cut crystal goblets.

"Merci." Sirius put in before the house elf left. "That is the extent of my French." He confided to Lara.

She laughed and shook her head at him. "Strange man."

He followed as she sashayed into the main room with the wine and immediately took precedence of the whole of the settee. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her figure draped quite dramatically over the sofa and sat himself upon an overstuffed chair opposite her.

Mistress Malfoy had already poured two glasses and was sampling the wine as she passed one to him. Sirius sipped one and, finding its taste quite pleasing, examined the bottle. "Vintage; 1608...a very good year." He said in approval and took another sip; swishing the liquid around his mouth.

"We 'liberated' a selection of wines from a trading vessel, perhaps six months ago?"

Sirius found this strangely hilarious. "Regular marauder's you are!" He chuckled and took another drink, a longer one this time. The wine was extraordinary.

Mistress Malfoy raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching. "Is there something humorous about that?"

Sirius shook his head. "There is a pun in my words." He explained.

His tongue fizzed strangely and he frowned and flicked it impatiently around his mouth before taking another drink. That seemed to sooth it.

"At Hogwarts, where I met James, Remus and Peter–"

"Peter?" Lara asked.

Sirius waved his hand flippantly. "He's not important. Didn't even come to find Alexia with us. Coward. Now, we used to call ourselves 'The Marauders'." He explained and rubbed a shoulder blade impatiently.

"Something wrong, monsieur?" Miss Lara enquired with concern.

Sirius waved it off. "Nothing, Mistress. It is merely my shoulder starting to ache."

Miss Lara set down her wine glass and sat up, beckoning him over. "Come my Lord, I have been told I hold hidden secrets within these hands."

Sirius held up a finger and she waited while he drained his glass before he came and sat between her legs on the settee. He sighed in pleasure as her hands came down and expertly kneaded and pressed the aching muscles.

"Tell me more, monsieur," her hot breath blew across the back of his neck, tickling the ends of his black hair and making him shiver in delight. "About your marauder days." Her hands were travelling along his shoulder and back again. "_S'il vous plait_." She whispered in his ear before nipping it lightly.

Sirius tensed as his body responded to the light kisses she pressed against the side of his neck. His mouth moved on its own accord, his mind only concerned with the jolts of pleasure coursing through his body, and he told her about the various pranks they pulled on both staff and student.

Her hands moved lower and traced patterns across his chest and low stomach. He was painfully aware of the lack of proximity between them, how his back was pressed hard against her chest.

"Tell me, how did you find us here?" Her fingers stroked back and forth again the outside of his thigh, slowly coming inwards.

Again his mouth moved without his permission and he somehow told her about their years of research, of Moony's idea of cross-referencing the known paths of the pirate vessel, of finding 'that hidden island place'.

"L'îlot caché de Bijoux." Mistress Malfoy corrected as she nuzzled the crook of his neck.

"Thass the one..." Sirius slurred.

"Where does the name 'Moony' come from?" Mistress Malfoy asked him. "Lord Potter and yourself have similar names if I remember correctly."

"Issa secret..." Sirius told her and clumsily pressed his finger in the general direction of his lips. "Shhhchss..."

She bit down hard on a pulse point in his neck in response.

Sirius groaned. "Childishhh nicknamesss..." He hissed out when she began to suck on the bitten area causing his breath to quicken in a very strange manner.

"Why is Remus so tired all the time?" She whispered in his ear.

"It's almossst time." Sirius told her drowsily.

"Time?" She flicked her tongue at his earlobe. "For what, monsieur?" Her fingers teasingly inches closer to the source of his discomfort.

"For the fu–"

"Padfoot?"

In a flash, Mistress Malfoy extracted herself from her position draped around the Black Lord and seated herself primly to his side with a respectable distance between them. Lord Black, finding himself suddenly without support, teetered forward.

The weary Lord Lupin entered the room...just in time to see his fellow Lord fall directly into Mistress Malfoy's cleavage.

"Sirius!" He barked in alarm as the owner of the breasts shrieked in an appropriately feminine response. The doors flew open and the two women stationed outside barged in with their swords drawn.

"Mmm...mother..." Came Lord Black's muffled response before he was cruelly pulled away from the comforting softness of Miss Lara's breasts.

"I-I apologise deeply for him!" Lord Lupin said, practically in hysterics at his friend's most uncouth display. "Really! That is the most inappropriate...I cannot believe what I just saw...I..."

"You mustn't apologise for Lord Black. It is my own fault. I had no idea he was so susceptible to wine when I invited him to have a drink with me." Miss Lara sniffed. One of the guards, the one Remus recognised as Daine with the Chalcedony eyes, passed her a handkerchief and she dabbed at her eyes daintily.

His heart broke for the women in front of him. He had never known Sirius to get that out of control from alcohol before, but perhaps the stress of their situations caused him to drink more than the norm. Either way, it was no excuse.

He relieved the guard holding his intoxicated and now snoring friend of her burden. "Rest assured, Mistress Malfoy that his deed will not go unpunished." He said firmly.

"Please don't trouble yourself, milord." She begged. "I am sure his headache in the morn will be punishment enough."

"We shall see." Remus slung one leaden arm around his neck and half-dragged the snoring deviant into his bathing room where he was unceremoniously dumped into a bath of cold water.

As soon as he was out of sight Miss Lara removed the handkerchief from her perfectly dry eyes and tossed it at Daine.

"Laying it on a bit thick weren't you?" Daine asked with amusement.

Lara sniffed dramatically. "I was viciously accosted by a drunken fiend. I would think you would spare a bit more sympathy." She said before bursting into quiet giggled with her companions as the surprised shouts of Lord Black sounded from the other room.

"Marie Claire," Lara said, addressing the woman with soft green eyes the colour of Andradite. "Remove that bottle if you please. I do not think Lord Black will be having anymore wine tonight."

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James had returned to his book upon Sirius' departure. He was just reading a passage on a vividly described quadruple tryst between Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and what was disturbingly described as 'the fairest house elf containing by far the largest sexual appetite seen this side of the highlands', when a voice sounded from his entryway.

"Do you often lose yourself in erotica, Lord Potter?"

James looked up in alarm. "Madam Captain, I did not see you there." He murmured, closing the book with a snap. "I know not of what you speak. I was merely reminiscing upon the memoirs of a Hogwarts founder."

Lily continued. "Gryffindor was indeed a...talented writer." She chuckled lowly at as the flush adorning Lord Potter's cheeks deepened substantially at her words. "I have long indulgenced in the beauty of his works."

"Works?" James asked surprised. "There is more than just his journal?"

"Oh yes," The captain's smile grew wider. "Gryffindor was quite fond of documenting his sexual exploits. There is a manuscript dedicated solely to his sexual exploits with house elves alone. Allegedly he was fond of their enthusiasm for even his most sordid of suggestions."

James tried not to think about Gryffindor's sexual preferences. Favouring instead, watching his visitor move around his room, examining the muggle portraiture decorating his walls.

"Pray tell," he said. "What I did do deserve the captain herself calling on me?"

"Everybody gets one, Potter." She replied, absently tracing the horizon line of an oceanic landscape. "This so happens to be your turn." Abruptly she turned to face him. "I believe it has been a while since you were graced the prospect of fresh air. Care to walk with me, Lord Potter?"

James decided not to inform her that he had, in fact, taken a stroll with Alexia that very morning. He had an inkling that the captain was not unaware of that fact. Moreover, he was not about to give up an opportunity to get out of the bowels of the ship.

"Your proposition is considered and accepted, Miss Evans." He said cordially and offered her his arm.

She took it with amusement. "I will send you some of Gryffindor's other works. Particularly the one depicting the three-day romp with three centaurs in the Forbidden Forrest. According to him they can do wondrous things with their bows..." she trailed off as Lord Potter choked on his own saliva.

"Beg pardon?" He said; his voice decidedly higher than usual. Then the marauder in him surfaced. "Tease." He accused sullenly.

Lily threw back her head and let loose a loud laugh. "I confess I may have fabricated a little." She admitted as the heavy oak door shut behind them with a dull 'thud'.

Ten seconds after their departure, Lord Black would emerge from Lupin's room in investigation of the noise. Deciding that he had imagined it all, he would then return to his own room.

As they made their way down the hallway, they passed Mistress Malfoy heading towards them. The two women exchanged slight nods; Lord Potter thought nothing of it. They turned the corner before he could catch sight of the first mate entering the rooms they had just left.

None of this reached Lord Potter's awareness as he emerged upon deck and breathed in the salt air.

"Feel's good doesn't it, Potter." Lily asked and she leant against the wooden railing. A spurt of sea spray burst up behind her; the droplets reflecting off the setting sun like diamonds. James stared at the picture transfixed.

He hadn't thought of the captain as being particularly beautiful before then; his hatred of her piratical deeds had blinded him to everything else about her. But now, seeing her with the sun illuminating her silhouette, her burning fire of red hair flickering round her face with the breeze, he thought he had never seen something more beautiful.

"I meant it, you know."

She turned at his words. "Meant what, Potter?"

"When I called you a diamond of the first water." James replied honestly.

She snorted loudly and turned to face the setting sun, but not before he saw the blush upon her cheeks.

He leant on the railing next to her. "You're blushing." He teased.

She glared at him. "With my hair being the colour it is, blushing comes more naturally." She insisted.

James shook his head with a grin. "Nay, I do believe you enjoy my compliments, Captain Evans."

"Dream on, Potter." Lily scoffed.

"And what," Lily ignored his sudden nearness. "If I whispered sweet nothings into your ear?" He asked, his breath tickling her.

"No shortness of breath, no speed in my hearts beating, no maidenly blush on my cheeks." She told him firmly.

"And if I whispered that your eyes sparkle like the clearest of Emeralds?"

"I would kindly inform you to find the nearest merchants stall and bargain for some originality." Lily replied tartly.

James looked delighted. "Original the lady says?" He laughed out loud. "Original she will get."

"I am no lady, Potter." Lily eyed him warily when he collected himself with flair.

"Miss Evans," He said, flamboyantly kissing her hand. "May I put it to you that your eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad?"

Lily could not help the laughter that burbled out of her. "Potter!" She gasped. "That is the most utterly ridiculous thing that has ever been said to me!"

"I suppose I might say that your hair gleams like the heart of a virgin flame. Though it is much more prudent to say that it glistens like the shell of a Mackled Malaclaw."

Lily fluttered her eyelashes. "Oh Potter, I'm swooning already." She mimed a mockery of a dramatic faint.

Unfortunately, Lord Potter, having been groomed all his life on what to do in such situations, attempted to reach out and catch her. Instead he inadvertently knocked her off balance and she tipped backwards and over the side of the ship.

"Merlin's great hairy twat..." James whispered as the splash sounded. "MAN OVERBOARD!"

The few pirates milling around the deck looked at him blankly. "I meant **wo**man overbo– Never you mind." He muttered and dived over the side after her.

That, of course caused alarm amongst the pirates. James burst through the surface of the water and looked around him frantically. There was nary a sight of flaming red hair anywhere to be seen.

He swore again and dived under to see if he could make out anything red in the blur his vision had become. His spectacles proved themselves utterly useless under water and he had no wand to assist him.

James knew that if he became responsible for the pirate Captain's watery descent into Davy Jones Locker than that was it for him, his fellow lord's and most likely his sister. That last thought gave him incentive enough to dive back into the depths of the dark ocean.

The dark water surrounded him in its cold embrace, James soon realised that with his sight as impaired as it was, he had no awareness of which direction the surface was location. He swam uselessly in a random direction that he hoped was up.

He switched directions and began swimming the opposite direction once his lungs began to burn. Despite trying with all his might to hold on to his last bit of air, the breath escaped of his mouth in a collection of bubbles.

This was it, he decided. There was no breath left in him.

He closed his eyes and felt the ocean press all around him.

Then an explosion of bubbles came from next to him and he felt strong arms pull him close and a mouth pressed onto his, blowing precious air into his lungs and he drank it in greedily. He opened his eyes and saw a blue of red before he was pulled sideways and they broke the surface with a gasp.

James sucked in as much air as his lungs would allow, flailing slightly until he stilled, panting and treading water. "I thought you were dead." He gasped at the women treading next to him.

Lily snorted and stared up at the darkening sky. "Don't be so naive, Potter, as to think that I would live this long at sea without learning how to swim." With that she put wet fingers to her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. J

ames felt the tug of the magic as it left him and the captain up out of the water and deposited them gently on the deck floor.

* * *

0-0

**..:: Cutlass ::..**

0-0

* * *

When Captain Evans returned to her cabin still dripping with sea water and looking forward to a hot bath, she found her first mate stretched across her bed, engrossed in a manuscript.

"Gryffindor was an extraordinary philanderer, wasn't he?" Lara commented as her captain came in. "I shall never look at Spectre the same way." She looked up at the sodden pirate in front of her. "I was informed that you went bathing in the ocean. I prepared a bath for you."

Lily sighed in happiness. "How often do I mention how much I adore you?" She asked over her shoulder as she began removing her soaked clothing on the way to her bathing room.

"Not nearly enough, mon petit barnacle." Lara smiled at the book in front of her.

Lily slid into the hot bubble-filled water with a contented moan. Moments later Lara followed her captain into the room, still half-absorbed with the book. Lily lathered her arms with sweet-smelling soap, relived from the bureau of a captain's daughter. "Did we learn anything of interest from our dear Lord Black?"

"Some," Lara replied absently, turning the page. "It still amazes me what a loose tongue men have when ingested with wine and faced with a pair of tits."

Miss Evans sounded her distinctively loud laugh at that.

"Unfortunately Lord Lupin's sense of timing was above reproach; he interrupted just as Lord Black was about to reveal something I believe was quite damning." Lara sighed in regret. "Ah well, c'est la vie." She shrugged. "Perhaps you had better luck?"

"...the prat pushed me overboard."

* * *

_**Let's finish there. I wasn't sure whether I'd have room to type a Lily and James scene but then I was just like 'screw it' and put it in anyway. It all worked out in the end anyway. As we see, Ginny Weasley clearly stole the 'eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad' from James Potter. For shame, Ginny. I'm trying to slow down the romance and give it a touch of realism as opposed to my naive self just pushing right through with the ships in the former **_**Cutlass**_**. But still, any CC or messages of adoration are duly welcome. **_

_**Do not fear the Reaper...**_

_**Love Queen Cocaine**_

_**xoxo**_


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